No wonder it’s called the dismal science. BBC economics editor Evan Davis has looked into his crystal ball, and on his blog forecast hard times ahead. Incisive analysis and persuasive argument? No, more poring over entrails and hunch, by the look of it, which means there is at least a 50% chance that Davis is right.

Part of me – the grumpy old bastard whose favourite English word is Schadenfreude – hopes for an almighty economic crash. This would certainly teach a lesson to Gordon Brown and his followers who built up our service-centred and credit-obsessed economy, and those talentless shits who have made a killing in the housing market, and now live off the profits of property speculation.

But then I remember that recessions hurt everyone, and the majority do not deserve such suffering.

I suppose it’s naïve of me to hope for a quick crash which empties the bulging bank accounts and pension funds of the new indolentsia, followed by a solid economic restructuring that creates real jobs and real wealth. A fantasy, maybe, but one can dream.